Women’s basketball comes up short against Saints

For more information on tonight’s game, please visit the Mirror’s Sports Blog.

Fairfield was unable to hold onto a nine point lead in the closing minutes against Siena on Friday, falling short 57-52.

After a close first half, the Stags battled their way to a nine point lead, 47-38 with 6:37 remaining in the game. However, junior forward Laura Menty made two quick lay-ups and a free throw, one after a Fairfield turnover, to cut the lead to four while only taking one minute off the clock.

After two more Saint free throws, Tara Flaherty’s lay-up and Cara Murphy’s three stretched the Stags’ lead back to seven with 3:46 left. Those points would be the last Fairfield would score for the rest of the game.

The Saints tied the game at 52 on a lay-up by Heather Stec with 1:49 remaining and took the lead on another lay-up by Menty with 53 seconds left. The Stags were unable to hit anything else and were forced to foul, which lead to the final score of 57-52.

This collapse came after a tight first half in which the Stags battled back from being down six, five, and five. After hitting the first shot in second half, Fairfield never trailed until the final minutes.

Fairfield had trouble with Menty late in the game, as she scored a game-high 19 points on 9 of 14 shooting. But Fairfield’s defense was not terrible. The Stags forced 19 turnovers and held Siena to 45 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Megan Caskin harassed the Saints, coming up with four steals as well.

Yet, Fairfield only shot 35 percent themselves and had no player with double-digits in scoring. Fairfield has relied on a balanced attack all year and this game was no different. Nine different players all scored, with sophomore forward Baendu Lowenthal leading the team with nine.

However, over a quarter of the Stags’ shots from the field were from downtown, and they didn’t connect often. The Stags shot a meager 18 percent from beyond the arc on 17 shots.

Not only did the Stags struggle offensively, but they were also out-rebounded 40-37. Freshmen Stephanie Geehan and Flaherty each had eight to pace the Stags.

The loss drops the Stags to 7-9 overall on the year and 3-2 in the MAAC. Siena improves to 3-12 overall and 2-3 in the MAAC.

Loyola won Friday over Manhattan, while Canisius fell to Marist. This further compacts the middle of the MAAC, while further separating Marist and Iona from the pack.

Fairfield is now tied for third place with Loyola. However, due to their win over the Greyhounds earlier in the week, the Stags hold the tiebreaker.

The Stags return to play in Alumni Hall on Sunday against St. Peter’s. The Peacocks are currently 6-8 overall and 2-3 in the MAAC, putting them right behind Fairfield in the MAAC standings.